Today was the opening day of the 2022 Badminton Horse Trials. This is not unlike the Salem Witch Trials, but for horses (yeh right).

The opening day is for rising stars and experienced amateurs. The professionals will arrive tomorrow. This worked out well for me as the crowds were thinner and it was much easier to capture good shots with plenty of isolation and very few spectators cluttering up the photographs.

I use a Canon R5 camera which has animal eye-tracking, auto-focus which means that as long as there's an animal in the shot the camera will simply maintain focus on its eye, no matter how quickly it is moving. The results were very impressive with only a handful of images less than perfectly focused. I was also shooting using the electronic shutter at a high burst rate which allows me to grab a rapid sequence of shots silently, up to 20 frames a second, from which I can select the best composition (IMHO).

There were a number of official photographers on the course but they have to work to a different agenda. They need to produce several images of every rider in order to maximize print sales. I was able to enjoy the luxury of wandering around shooting whatever takes my fancy in a more portrait style. I also have no idea who the riders are so have no responsibility to deliver. Easy life some might say.